Hurt
by Smileyone1
Summary: The day was cold and dismal, and seemed to reflect Sorella's exact mood for that particular time. She stood far away so the gathering of people clad in black wouldn't notice her. It wasn't her place to draw close, and it wasn't her place to approach.


HURT

**Author's Note: **_**I really love how this turned out. "Hurt" by Christina Aguilera is one of, if not the, most favorite song of mine in all time. It really captures emotions and brings them out of me and I felt it really fit with the story here. This is a one-shot song fic regarding my Zatch Bell OC Character, Sorella. I really hope you all like it, because I enjoyed writing it, if that makes sense, lol. The lines in bold are what Sorella's singing, by the way.**_

Disclaimer:** I don't own Zatch Bell. I made Sorella, Rita, and Kumara belongs to Mukai-sama, so please don't take them. Gracias! I also don't own this song and it is sung by the ever so mega awesome, Christina Aguilera.**

The day was cold and dismal, and seemed to reflect Sorella's exact mood for that particular time. She stood far away so the gathering of people clad in black wouldn't notice her. It wasn't her place to draw close, and it wasn't her place to approach.

No one over there knew her anyway. The only one who did couldn't even talk to her.

Dressed in a billowing black dress, Sorella hung back, watching the progression with sad eyes. A young woman was crying into a handkerchief as an elderly man draped an arm around her shoulders, comforting her gently.

A group of four people walked across the gravel pathway between cold tombstones, tears staining their face as they left a freshly made grave behind them.

Golden eyes tightened somberly as they followed the young woman with long brown hair and brown eyes, shaped like hers...

And her mother's.

Only after seeing the multiple black cars drive away, carrying sad passengers and dismayed hearts, did Sorella dare to venture close to the tombstone that had just been the main feature to those driving away. Sorella's shiny black heeled footsteps were drawn out and almost excruciating as she drew close to the tombstone, the stone glossy and new from being polished and engraved.

The mound of dirt was soft and plush, and Sorella paused in her encroachment when she reached the foot of it, like someone standing at the foot of a bed and staring at a pillow.

"Heh..." she laughed, looking bitter and forlorn."Well, I'm glad I'm by myself here. I wouldn't want anyone telling me they told me so..."

Her long waves of dark hair fluttered around her face like the white dandelion seeds blew in the wind after being pushed away from the stem, swirling in graceful waves.

In her hands, Sorella clutched a small, round mirror imbedded into intricate silver, twisting and bending around the glassy surface as tree roots squirm into the ground.

The cold wind cast miniscule goose bumps along Sorella's exposed skin upon her arms, legs, and neck, but that wasn't why she shivered. It wasn't because the grey clouds were covering the sun and hiding the warmth she so desperately craved at that moment.

Sorella's eyes narrowed as she gazed upon the tombstone with so many emotions, that it contained more of a blend than chex mix bags.

Rita De Luca  
Born: August 10, 2001  
Died: April 18, 2095, at age 94 years old  
Beloved wife and mother

A faint smile brushed against Sorella's lips as she took in the soft curls of writing that reminded her of the soft curls of Rita's eyelashes against her eyes when the lids fluttered in happiness at good news.

"So many years..." Sorella sighed, fingers clutching the mirror tightly to her chest.

A pair of fiery red eyes watched Sorella as she sagged somewhat, at a safe distance away where they hoped she wouldn't notice them. Kumara's hands were shoved deep in his pockets as an open umbrella hung on his shoulder should it start to rain. He was dressed in a sharp black suit and had even combed his hair back. Not that it made much difference since his hair went anywhere it wanted regardless of him attempting to tame it.

"Am I sure I should be here...?" Kumara wondered aloud.

_It was your idea... _a voice in his head pointed out.

"I know but..." Kumara started, pausing when he didn't know how to finish the thought in his head. "When she falls, I should be there to catch her..." he finally stated to himself, eyes going almost soft as he watched Sorella blink rapidly.

Sorella's hands shook as she fought the acidity in her throat, the burning tears pushing against her eyes determinedly. She blinked in quick succession to regain control of herself before taking a deep, shuddering breath, not sensing that Kumara was in the distance and watching her closely.

"I knew I'd be here eventually," Sorella said to the cold stone, to the soft, fresh patch of earth that covered her sister like a heavy quilt. "But still... I couldn't get over the fact of seeing your husband... He was a handsome man, wasn't he? And... Your daughter..."

Sorella frowned for a moment, allowing the silence to help her in gathering her thoughts.

"She looks just like you!" she managed to laugh. "Her eyes and everything! Your spitting image! It was like I was seeing you all over again!"

Sorella managed to keep her smile on her face for another second before it crumbled away faster than the corner of an exploded building.

"I watched you grow," Sorella whispered. "You may have not known me, but I knew you. I watched over you as you walked to your first day of high school. You were so nervous... you... dropped your purse on the way there, and couldn't find it. But then... then you saw it on your desk in your first class!"

The corners of Sorella's mouth twitched upwards slightly as the wind pushed some fallen leaves towards her back, pushing the folds of her knee length black dress along with them.

"I put it there," Sorella told the tombstone. "And then, when you were lost in that strange city on that field trip in college... do you remember that ball of light that you were so curious about? You followed it, and somehow found your tour group, which was searching all over for you."

A distant rumbling of clouds shook through the air and almost drowned out Sorella's next words.

"I watched you when you met your husband, and on your first date with him you tripped and fell, but he caught you. That was when you had your first kiss... you were a good girl, always deciding to hold out for that special person. You even held back your first kiss until college!"

Sorella's voice started getting shaky as her eyes blinked all the harder, determined to not cry. She hastily pushed her hand to her eyes to wipe away any moisture, suddenly wishing her dress were long sleeved, rather than short.

"You had a beautiful child... one time I was sure she saw me watching as you two played in the park, and that was when I started watching at a farther distance. Of course, she wouldn't know me, as you didn't but... you were happy. I didn't want to ruin that."

Sorella fell silent again as she seemed to mull something over before smiling a crooked smile.

"How ironic... here I was sure I wouldn't break down. I told myself that I'd handle seeing you as an old woman who lived her life, while I remain frozen... the age you saw me as, with maybe a few more facial lines than before..."

Sorella's knuckles turned white as they gripped the mirror.

"I couldn't... so many years... so many years of you not knowing a single thing about me!" Sorella whispered voice tight and constricted, as if a snake were coiling around her thin neck. "But... I was right about one thing..."

Sorella looked up at Rita's tombstone from where she had squinted her eyes shut tight to keep from crying.

"I enjoyed seeing you live!" she laughed sincerely. "I was glad that you were happy! You lived the way I wanted you to... even if it was a life without me in it... Although... I came close to revealing myself multiple times. The closest was when you were playing the piano to yourself. Your daughter was at home and husband at work... it was just the two of us, though you didn't know any better."

Sorella rolled her eyes, grinning almost masochistically as if the pain was worth the tiny bit of enjoyment she received from standing at the grave and speaking to it.

"That was when I recalled how you loved music... I was never good at it, but in order to please you, I practiced and practiced in order to make you happy! When I heard about your death, it was sunny... too warm to stay indoors and you planned on going to the beach with your daughter and her family, along with your husband..."

Sorella screwed her eyes shut tight again as her head drooped, hair falling in front of her face like a sheet of luminescence.

"There was this song playing in your home... and it floated through the air, slicing into me like knives... you... loved those melancholy songs, and I never understood it. You were always so happy! So why... why would you..."

Sorella sighed deeply, shoulders shaking.

"Maybe you remembered a feeling that you had to punish yourself. I was... still am worried that you continued to berate yourself even after your memories were erased," Sorella sighed. "But... that song... why were you listening to that song?"

Sorella stared long and hard at the stone, hoping that she would receive some kind of answer.

She received none.

Laughing once in bitter resentment, Sorella took a deep, long breath before exhaling slowly.

"Maybe you don't remember it..." she spoke softly. " Perhaps dying was a greater method to erasing memories. I'll refresh you, shall I?"

Sorella held one of her hands to her chest, while the other continued to clutch to the mirror tightly. Kumara stiffened; not understanding what Sorella was about to do until she opened her mouth and the softest, most hauntingly devastated voice reached their ears...

"_Seems like it was yesterday when I saw your face__**  
**__You told me how proud you were, but I walked away__**  
**__If only I knew what I know today, ooh, ooh__****_

_I would hold you in my arms; I would take the pain away__**  
**__Thank you for all you've done, forgive all your mistakes__**  
**__There's nothing I wouldn't do to hear your voice again__**  
**__Sometimes I wanna call you but I know you won't be there!"_

Sorella's face flashed with pain as she wrapped her arms closer around her waist, brow furrowing as if the song were pushing her farther into the ground with every line.

_**"Oh, I'm sorry for blaming you**__**  
**__**For everything I just couldn't do**__**  
**__**And I've hurt myself by hurting you...**__****_

_**Some days I feel broke inside but I won't admit**__**  
**__**Sometimes I just wanna hide 'cause it's you I miss**__**  
**__**And it's so hard to say goodbye when it comes to this, ooh..."**_

Thunder clapped like drums... lighting fizzed like violins... and the wind howled like the mourning tune of the piano Sorella could vividly recall in her mind as she reflected back to the news of Rita's death.

A symphony of sorrow, and she was the conductor.

_**"Would you tell me I was wrong? Would you help me understand?" **_Sorella sang, looking up at the sky as it thundered and rain began to shower down upon her, soaking her to the bone. _**"Are you looking down upon me? Are you proud of who I am?There's nothing I wouldn't do to have just one more chance... To look into your eyes and see you looking back!**_

_**"Oh, I'm sorry for blaming you**__**  
**__**For everything I just couldn't do**__**  
**__**And I've hurt myself, oh!"**_

Sorella fell to her knees, filed fingernails clawing at the muddied mound of fresh dirt as she crept towards the stone with Rita's name on it, tears blending with the fresh, cold-water rain.

_**"If I had just one more day!"**_ she sang powerfully, a cry of sorrow bursting forth from her tongue in melancholy tunes as she slumped against the polished stone.

"_**I would tell you how much that I've missed you since you've been away!"**_ she all but screamed, fingers raking against the tombstone as if she were attempting to mold within it, pressing her slumped forehead against the drenched stone.

_"Oh, it's dangerous__**  
**__It's so out of line__**  
**__To try and turn back time..."_

Sorella flinched when she felt a clawed hand grip her sagging shoulder, cutting off the last lines she was about to force from her body like poison, wanting them out of her and far away, scattered across the winds.

"Sorella..." a voice softly called to her.

A warm presence was beside her as a toasty arm slung around her shoulders, a raised umbrella cutting off the rain from washing away all that she was surrendering.

"It's okay," Kumara's voice softly called to her.

The fire demon's warm hand slipped into hers and gently tugged her to her feet. He tried to lead her away, but she hesitated, lifting the mirror up to the tombstone.

White light surrounded her hands as she pressed the object to the stone, and when she removed them, it revealed that she had imbedded the stunning mirror into the stone itself, just above Rita's name in the center.

Casting one last glance upon the stone, knowing she'd never again visit the place, Sorella felt a piece of her heart fly off and press itself into the ground where her sister was buried deep in the ground...

Unaware that the sister Rita could no longer remember was crumbled right over Rita's own grave. Sorella's eyes tightened as she bit hard upon her soft lower lip, finally allowing Kumara to lead her away.

Away from agony and towards something brighter.

Their figures faded down the gravel path and out of site, Sorella leaving a trail of haunted whispers behind her...

_I'm sorry for blaming you__  
__For everything I just couldn't do__  
__And I've hurt myself__  
__By hurting you_


End file.
